The foreign minister-level talks are of importance as the four nations have border or trade-related conflicts with China and seek to strengthen security cooperation to control Beijing’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
China, on the other hand, views “Quad” as a threat to its dominance in the region and says the forum is an attempt by the United States to create an Asian version of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) aimed at directly to counteract your interests.
Indeed, Beijing’s “concerns” were validated by US Under Secretary of State Stephen E Biegun, who recently suggested that the informal defense alignment among the four nations could be the beginning of a NATO-style alliance in Asia.
In his opening remarks at today’s meeting, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said that promoting the security and economic interests of all countries that have legitimate and vital interests in the Indo-Pacific remains a key priority. Without directly naming China, Jaishankar said that India remained committed to a rules-based world order and respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty.
The United States, however, took a more aggressive stance and called for greater cooperation among the four members of the Quad.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said China’s increasingly assertive actions in the region make it more critical than ever for four Indo-Pacific nations to cooperate to protect their partners and their people from “exploitation, corruption and coercion. ” from China.
But can a full-blown military alliance in Asia stand up to an expansionist China?
After the US, China is the second largest military spending country in the world with a budget of approximately $ 261 billion in 2020, according to figures from the SIPRI military spending database.
In recent years, China has embarked on a massive modernization campaign that includes the rapid development of modern aircraft carriers, stealth jets, and naval frigates.
And while regional players like India, Japan and Australia are increasing their own defense budgets to balance the equation, China’s military spending far exceeds that of all of its neighbors.
With the US in the quadruple equation and growing military cooperation, the Indo-Pacific nations would hope to counter China’s ability to expand its presence in the region.
A formal NATO-like alliance, with a firm eye on China’s ambitions, will also help nations exert influence on waterways from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific.
Mike Green, an Asia expert at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the Quad meeting would serve as a warning to China and play on its fears that it will one day become a formalized grouping like NATO, which will formed to contain the Soviet Union.
(With inputs from agencies)
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